Chicken Roulade with Smoked Cauliflower & Quinoa

I am super excited to share this Summer Superfood collaboration recipe, along with three other lovely ladies; Hinenui and Leah from Tinana DIY and Jessica from Missgraysouffle.

Jessica was in charge of the entree, and Leah & Hinenui the dessert, and I was asked to create the main course. The brief was to create a delicious, fairly healthy dish that featured one or more superfoods, which served 4 people for $30.

I'll be honest, shopping (in any form) to a budget is not my strong point, so having to keep to a set spend was challenging for me hahah safe to say I was fairly happy with myself for not spending over budget! There is only one ingredient in this dish that I would class as specialty, but I have been DYING to use it in a recipe; the simple, but amazingly delicious smoked butter from Whitestone. This dish also includes pantry staples such as olive oil, milk, and seasonings.

For my dish, I created a meal using simple ingredients and a few different techniques that come together for a delicious, textural plate of delicious (and it has gravy, who doesn't like gravy?). Chicken breast is rolled, wrapped in back and poached, before being browned in a pan and finished in the oven. The chicken is then served with a puree of cauliflower and garlic, that has a slight smokiness from the manuka smoked butter. Last is my superfood element, a warm salad of quinoa, roasted carrots and caramelised onion. Quinoa is super cheap, extremely nutritious and holds a lot of fiber and protein - the perfect healthier alternative to grains such as rice and couscous.

I was feeling a little inspired when I plated this and tried to get a little bit fancy, which resulted in the portions being slightly smaller. If you plate your dish like this, expect to have more than 4 servings, closer to 6 - 8.

I'd love for you to try this dish! It takes a little, teeny bit of extra time but it will be sure to impress! Don't forget to check out the entree and desserts included in this collaboration as well, I can't wait to try the other ladies dishes. Rhiannon x

You will need (serves 4):

2 chicken breasts

8 rashers of streaky bacon

Half head of cauliflower

1 cup of milk

1 garlic clove, whole

1tbsp smoked butter, plain salted works also

200g quinoa

2 carrots, peeled and cut into sticks

1 brown or white onion, peeled and diced

1tsp cumin

2 cups chicken stock

1 - 2tbsp plain flour

S&P

Olive oil

Parsley, optional

Method:

Preheat your oven to 200c fan bake. In a roasting tray, combine the carrots and onion with a generous drizzle of oil. Roast in the oven until tender and caramelised.

Take the cauliflower, and chop into small pieces, and add to a pot with the milk, garlic and 2-3 cups of water. Cook on a medium heat until the cauliflower is tender, then leave to cool in the liquid slightly. Take the cooked cauliflower and place into a blender with the butter and a ladle full of the milk. Blend until smooth, and add extra liquid until you reach your desired consistency. Season, and set aside, you can reheat if necessary.

Chicken: for the chicken element, there are two options. For the easiest option, take each chicken breast and wrap with four slices of bacon. Pop into the oven until the bacon has gone crispy and the chicken is cooked through. For the technique used, take each chicken breast, lay a sheet of glad wrap over the top and use a rolling pin to flatten the chicken breast to 0.5 to 1cm thick. On another sheet of glad wrap, lay 4 rashers of bacon down vertically. Place the flattened chicken on top of the bacon, then use the glad wrap to roll the chicken and bacon like you would sushi. Wrap the roulade tightly in glad wrap, then tie the ends.

Cook the wrapped roulades in a pot of nearly simmering water for twenty minutes. Remove from the water, brown in a pan with oil and a little butter, then finish cooking in the oven.

In another pot, bring the chicken stock to the boil. Once boiling, pour the quinoa into the pot and turn the heat down to medium. Cook until tender to the bite, then strain, but reserve the cooking liquid.

Remove the chicken from the roasting tray, then place the tray with the juices on the stove top. Add in the cooking liquid from the quinoa, then bring to a simmer. In a cup, mix the flour with a little water to create a paste, then whisk this into the roasting tray to thicken the gravy. Set aside.

Place the quinoa in a bowl, then toss together with the caramelised carrots and onions, cumin, seasoning, parsley and a drizzle of olive oil to dress. The carve the chicken roulade into slices.